String of Prayers: Contemplating Protestant Prayer Beads

The Center for Leadership Excellence presents a webinar sponsored in partnership with the Commission on the Status and Role Of Women (COSROW)…

Registration for this event ends on April 10, so the prayer bead kits can be mailed and arrive in time.

About the Webinar:

Many different traditions have used prayer beads over the millennia, with the Catholic rosary the most well-known in Christian practice. Using a 33-bead model created in the 1980s, Protestants are exploring and enjoying this means of contemplative prayer. In this webinar, we’ll assemble our own prayer bead strings from kits and spend some time practicing this calming, comforting, affirming prayer practice. 

About the Presenter:

Rev. Dr. Anne Walker Sims is a United Methodist elder, the spouse of a disabled United Methodist elder, and the proud pet parent of two dogs who remind her daily of the unconditional love of God and the need to laugh regularly. She is the pastor of Oriental UMC in beautiful Oriental, NC, and shamelessly shares photos of the “Sailboat Capital of North Carolina” often on Facebook. Anne has flirted with contemplative practices her entire life, despite being a strong extrovert with ADD. Building on a quarter century of ministry experience, a doctoral dissertation on community building in divided settings, and the knowledge that there is something valuable in contemplation if she could only figure out how to settle down to do it, she began to develop a personal contemplative spiritual practice toolbox (both virtual and physical) to help her grow in her faith and support her mental and physical health.

Anne has an Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School and her Doctor of Ministry from Drew Theological School. In 25 years of ministry, she’s led numerous Bible studies and book groups, led workshops and retreats on praying with labyrinths, prayer beads, through journaling and art, lectio divina, and more, developed prayer stations and liturgical arts experiences for worship, and pastored urban and rural congregations. She’s passionate about developing and deepening relationships between people and God.